DAYTON, Ohio—What we learned Sunday afternoon as East No. 1 seed Indiana survived and advanced—no more, no less—in a 58-52 victory over No. 9-seeded Temple in an NCAA Tournament Round of 32 game before a red-clad crowd Sunday afternoon at UD Arena:

Oladipo is there when you need him

He scored 12 points and got 11 rebounds in a Big Ten quarterfinal game against Illinois. He scored 10 points in the semifinal loss to Wisconsin. And here against Temple, it was almost as if Indiana did not want his burden to be too great.

It turned out Oladipo was just great enough Sunday. Given the chance, he slowed down Temple Star Khalif Wyatt, who finished with 31 points and might have gotten 50 if Oladipo had not been given his shot to make a difference.

And with 15 seconds left and IU up a point, the Hoosiers having killed most of the shot clock to protect their lead but not necessarily in a commanding position on the trip, he sneaked to the top of the key and was found by center Cody Zeller. Oladipo's only 3-pointer of the game gave him 16 points and the Hoosiers a bit of a cushion.

“I was just open, and I shot it,” Oladipo said. “It really didn’t have anything to do with the moment or the confidence to shoot it. I just caught it and shot it. I didn’t think about it. I think that’s when I struggle, is when I think about shots.”

The Big Ten defensive player of the year, Oladipo, strangely, was not entirely turned loose on Wyatt until a bit into the second half, and even then Indiana switched him out of that matchup periodically. Every time it happened, Wyatt made it hurt. He scored six points on sophomore guard Remy Abell, and a 3-pointer against wing Will Sheehey. With Oladipo on him—and him alone—Wyatt scored only two second-half points.

“It’s one of the toughest matchups I’ve ever had,” Oladipo said. “He plays at his own pace,” Oladipo said. “Nothing—nothing—speeds him up.”

First 'The Shot,' now 'The Block'

Christian Watford’s game-winning 3-pointer to defeat eventual national champion Kentucky in December 2011 became one of the signature moments of last season and the starting point for author Terry Hutchens’ book, Rising From the Ashes: The Return of Indiana University Basketball.

But Watford’s block on Temple center Anthony Lee on Sunday no doubt trumps that, because what do you want to win—a regular-season game or a national championship?

Zeller and Oladipo threw a hard trap on Wyatt in the right corner with 2:21 left, but Wyatt saw Lee flash open in the post and lofted a pass over their reach inside. Watford actually was late reacting to the play, but he arrived just in time to rise in tandem with Lee and snuff out that dunk attempt. Lee got the rebound and passed to Scootie Randall, but he missed and Watford then snatched the loose rebound with one hand.

“Christian Watford’s defense was epic for us,” IU coach Tom Crean said. With Watford and Oladipo in charge, IU held Temple scoreless for the final 3:09, the Hoosiers finishing on a 10-0 run.

IU maybe can win a slugfest

For the first time all season, Indiana won a game in which it scored fewer than 66 points.

It’s hard to believe in today’s college basketball that the Hoosiers were able to top 71 points on 28 occasions, given how many teams are willing to slam-dance their way through a defensive possession. But with the nation’s most efficient offense, the Hoosiers managed.

Sunday, Indiana shot 19-of-45 against Temple’s active, long defenders. But they went to the foul line for 20 attempts and converted 16. That accuracy was enormous in such a tight game.

“That game really was surviving and advancing,” IU point guard Ferrell said. “We felt like we just really weren’t in it like we normally were, just in our groove. But down the stretch, when we just bear down, play defense and rebound—that’s when we can win.”

Temple knew what it wanted

Aware Oladipo is a significant defensive player of roughly Wyatt’s size, the Owls had to be concerned about how much production they would get from their star.

Indiana took to switching perimeter screens early, though, and so Temple spent a lot of the first half running Wyatt through picks until he had a favorable matchup and then just let him go. A jumpshot (2-of-7 on 3-pointers) or a post-up (6-of-7 on 2s)—whatever Wyatt wanted, he eventually got.

He scored 20 points in the first half, while the rest of the Owls scored nine.

When IU began the second half with guard Jordan Hulls on the bench, Abell took his place and started out defending Wyatt. On the first trip, Wyatt was isolated on the left block against Abell and scored easily.

After that, Crean finally got Oladipo into the matchup. Wyatt got only three shots over the next eight minutes and missed them all, turning over the ball once. That helped Indiana get back into the game, with the Hoosiers trailing 37-35 at the 12-minute media timeout.

Wyatt didn’t break the drought until Indiana surprisingly switched Abell back onto him, with Oladipo instead covering Randall. Wyatt scored twice easily, the second of those jumpers putting the Owls ahead 41-35. Oladipo returned to face-guarding Wyatt—covering him with no help responsibilities.

Out of the eight-minute media timeout, Crean had Oladipo on the bench and wing Will Sheehey on Wyatt. And Wyatt immediately stuck a 3-pointer in his face to give Temple back a 46-43 lead.

Not until 3:13 remained was Wyatt able to get a second-half touch with Oladipo defending him. He drove it into the lane with a spin move, and Oladipo reached in as Wyatt began a layup. Those two free throws made 52-48 Owls.

“It wasn’t going to be as much about the matchup as keep a chest in front of him,” Crean said. “It became, ‘If he can’t catch it, he can’t shoot it.’ ”

Indiana missed Hulls (while he was gone)

Early in the first half, Hulls was looking to accept an outlet pass a Temple player viewed as a potential steal, breaking on the ball and banging into Hulls hard as the ball arrived. The officials called no foul, but it was obvious afterward that Hulls was in pain.

He tried to play through the pain in his right shoulder for a bit, but he left the game a few minutes later and headed to the locker room with a trainer.

One of the nation’s most accurate 3-point shooters, Hulls did not start the second half but entered with 15:40 left and appeared to at least calm down the Hoosiers. He tried one 3-pointer that probably was not a great shot, but it at least loosened him up for the one he tried in transition with 8:48 remaining. That one looked like a Hulls jumper, hitting the target to draw IU to a 41-40 deficit.

Hulls finished with five points in 19 minutes.

IU trainers did not update his status, but Hulls said, “My shoulder is good. I’m sure it will be a little sore, but nothing too serious. You’d have to do a lot more to me than that to keep me off the floor in this kind of situation.”